Hope

The Village

It was only the head of the sun still peaking above the horizon when the guards went to every home ensuring curfew was in order. They had lanterns fixed to their posts, but did not waste the candlewax when the sun was still there to guide them as a light. 

As I walk away from a door having just checked they were inside, I was approached by another guard, both of us with our assault rifles on hand and pistols in our fat leather holster. 

'You might want to talk with that daughter of yours' he said upon approach, giving me little time to piece together what he was saying 'She stepped up to the fence today, far too close' 

'She's not my daughter' I immediately stated 'And I warned her' 

'Well warn her again' he demanded assertively, walking past me as he said it.

The village is not what many people would think, it's not a perfect community, but we survive. Food is scarce, rationed poorly amongst the homes. We have hot water, but only so much per week, all our power comes from some old windmills up the hill they got working a few years back. The way I see it, we have all we need, running water, cold and hot. We have fires, fridges, freezers, a pool, a small soccer pitch and a church... everything we need to survive. Sure it could be better, but it could be worse, right? 

A lot of us share homes with another family, me, I share mine with a family of 3, friends of mine. Aaron and his wife Holly, with their 9 year old son Callum. They have one room to share with each other, and we have one room. Aaron has the double bed, they all sleep in it. Our room only has the single bed, so I give it to Ash, though the nights when I'm on duty late, she takes the sleeping bag and lets me have the bed, so it balances out in a way. 

We haven't lit a fire in months, it's the middle of summer now, what need is there? Our concern is water, and when it's high enough we mash up some strawberries and make ice cream out of it for the kids.

I always wipe my shoes off the welcome mat before entering, I like the sound of the gritting texture rubbing the soles of my shoes off the carpet. It also reminds some bit of home, my parents would never let me into the house without cleaning my shoes first. 

When I entered the home I saw Aaron sitting on the armchair wearing a white t-shirt and an old tracksuit he wears during his luxury time. The back of his brown hair was the first I saw when I entered, sitting with his son in front of him on the floor, a board of chess in between them both. The sight had me crack a smile. 

'Aaron, you'd be faster teaching that boy how to drive' I said as I hung my coat upon the home built rack Aaron and I threw together back in the late twenties, standing behind the door with the last decade or so. 

'Nah' said Aaron as he moved a piece 'He's getting there' 

I walked over and leaned over on the empty three seat couch, spectating them both for a moment. Callum looked frustrated, confused, yet happy all at the same time. He waved his small hand's over different pieces, just as he went to touch it he made a change of mind and hovered over another. 

'She's in the room' said Aaron. 

I knew then that she was expecting me, and it wasn't to welcome me home with a gracious hug. 

The words that hit me as I opened the upstairs door came from the girl sitting on the bed who spoke before I even entered. 

'Save the bullshit Jerry' 

'Hey' I hushed 'Watch your language'  

I closed out the door gently and turned on the lights, brightening up the cream coloured room, shimmering the light off the brushed wooden floor I walked on. A varnished oak wardrobe on the left side of the room and a sink below a mirror on the right. And then there was the single bed in the centre of it all, pushed up against the cream painted wall. My sleeping bag thrown on the floor from last night, I don't even bother rolling it up, no point.  

'I know what you're going to say' said Ash, kicking her legs back and forth at the edge of the bed' 

'What, about the fence?' 

'No' she replied, pointing over to the armoire 'About that' she pointed to the pearlescent blue dress hanging from the door of the armoire that I had picked out for her. 

'This night only happens once a year Ash, at least try and look decent' 

'I'm not wearing a damn dress Jerry!' she said, hopping down off the bed and looking up to me 'If you like it so much, you wear it!' 

'You have no other formal wear' I said to her as she walked to her side of the room towards the wardrobe, opening it to reveal her small selection of clothing. 

'I'll find something' she said. 

That girl... I should have known, the day I see her in a dress will be the day all this ends, and I don't see that day getting any much closer. She has no care for public image, even to a formal event she will wear what she sleeps in or what she wakes up in, no care in the world of what people think... I guess it's the one thing that keeps me from kicking her out of my life... that and the fact that I made a promise to keep her safe. 

'Alright' I said, knowing I won't win this argument 'Be downstairs in ten minutes'. 

'What about you?' she asked as I was about to leave 'You going in your guard uniform?' 

I shook my head with a smile as she released her lush brown hair from her ponytail. 

'I've got a suit waiting for me in Aaron's room, just be ready' I smirked. 

'Yeah, yeah' she said 'I'll be down in five'

Normally curfew was at ten, but tonight was a special night, it was the town ball to celebrate sixteen years to the day of having this village up and running. I wouldn't say we're exactly celebrating the anniversary of the apocalypse, seeing as how that started around winter, and, well, that was twenty years ago. We do it every year to celebrate our survival, another year, all we lost were two people, both to old age. There is no such thing as dead weight here, if you're a good person, you stay until you die, no matter what condition you are in. We have resources to aid everyone here, and this is one of the few nights where we get to celebrate as a community. Something like this only happens four, maybe five times during the year. We have Halloween trick or treat for the children, but all they can get are apples and oranges, but they don't know the difference, they never even heard of the word candy, it can only be a good thing.

On Christmas day we all get together, just to be in each other's company on the day, and then there's new year's, where the entire community bands together to reel in the new year, another year of trying to survive in the cold, harsh world. Half the people in here don't even know what it's like out there. They didn't have to survive four years, hunting, killing and betraying people to survive. They don't know what it's like to lose somebody to those things, most of these people jumped from the old world straight into the village with no taste of what's really going on out there. It's even harder for the children like Ash and Callum, born and raised her. They've never been outside the gates of the village. They don't know what awaits us outside those walls... and I hope they never have to find out.